Reddit mentions: The best advertising books

>The boy's bright, been class prez for three years, and is a natural born artist (but only beginner-level CS skills).

Totally have him start to learn some visual design programs! The Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign etc) are the main things he'll be using in his day to day. If you want to give him a good graduation presenting, paying for a Creative Cloud membership goes a long way towards giving him the right tools for success.

>Or does it make more sense to work more on art/creative skills now in an undergrad BFA program somewhere?

I absolutely support the idea of art school with a design/advertising focused concentration. I'm someone that's only been out of school recently (five years ago) and it's a quicker and more direct route than going to a traditional university and following that up with portfolio school.

The biggest reason why most people go to portfolio school is that in their undergrads, they have all the pieces of being a good creative, but not the full picture.

For people who go to a traditional college, they know marketing/advertising, but don't know visual design enough to create their portfolios. On the flip side, for art school students the big problem was that we knew everything from a graphic design/visual perspective, but not enough advertising/marketing fundamentals to create portfolio pieces which had strategic thinking to them. When you go to a place like Miami Ad School or Portfolio Center, they marry the two and in two years you have a kickass portfolio.

But what happened starting in my year was that art schools started having programs which had a bigger focus on book smarts on top of just the arts. So you now have art schools like SVA, Columbia College and SCAD which offer you a design focused foundation married with advertising fundamentals. When I graduated with my BFA, I had the portfolio of someone that typically would need to spend six years (four years undergrad + two in portfolio school) to accomplish this in four years.

>Honestly, I feel bad that I've spent most of this kid's life telling him "art's not really a job" (that might sound familiar to some of you - sorry)... and I think that stupid dad-message stuck with him a little too much.

Don't feel bad about this; you're a good parent for wanting to look out for his future, and admittedly aiming for the art and design route is a hard sell for most people. My dad was an engineer and my mom was a nurse. These were both very safe fields which had traditional career paths and college routes and they were pretty shocked when I said I wasn't to do neither and go to art school for design. Good for you for being understanding about this and doing more research into it!

>It's clear to me now that he's only gonna be happy if he's creating so I'm suggesting he consider a BFA somewhere, but he wonders if maybe his long-term options in the industry might be limited without a more classical education.

Real talk: this is only really an issue if he decides ultimately that going into design/advertising is 100% not for him. Be warned that if he tries to go for another major in a traditional college, almost none of his credits will transfer over.

But, in terms of the real world, most advertising-focused companies and agencies are perfectly fine with a BFA; in face some prefer it over a normal degree.

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Besides this, if you want to learn more about what we do you should read/listen/watch these things:

• Mad Men - Low hanging fruit, but it's a good way to settle into what our day to days are in a very loose sense. While it's a bit exaggerated, this scene also does a great job of explaining the type of narrative we need to weave to sell through work in client presentations
  
• Art & Copy - Great documentary focused around creative advertising and featuring some wonderful creatives
  
• Abstract: The Art of Design - A great deep dive into design in it's multiple avenues, but specifically Ep. 6 with Paula Scher. She's a partner over at Pentagram, which is one of the best design studios out there.
  
• Hey Whipple, Squeeze This - While focusing on another aspect of creative advertising (copywriting), this book is super easy to read and gives a wonderful high level overview of creative advertising and what your son would be doing at his job.
  
• Ogilvy on Advertising - Our industry is actually a pretty young one; David Ogilvy is one of the greats and his book is a wonderful introduction into the business
  
• Life lessons from an ad man - An older talk by the wonderful Rory Sutherland. Listening to this does a good perspective into the unique way of thinking that advertising creatives have and how we train our brains to look at life from a difference perspective
  
  
  

Everything I did for my coffee shop had to be free or very very cheap. They were very emotionally supportive but not all that financially supportive. Mostly I did stuff like offering free drinks on Twitter and Facebook to anyone who could recite Ice Ice Baby by heart or who brought in a baby Jesus stolen from a manger scene. I made funny signs encouraging people to sit together. Just tried to be creative and make myself laugh.

As far as breaking into the industry, I would say the best thing you can do is make interesting stuff. If you have an idea for a blog, do it. I have a copywriter friend who has a blog of pictures of people first thing in the morning. So simple but also kind of brilliant. Creative directors love stuff like that. One of the coolest things about this industry is that it really does not matter how much experience or training you have. If you can demonstrate an ability to consistently have good ideas and carry them out, you will absolutely get a job.

If I was just starting out (and not married) I would apply for WK12 through Wieden+Kennedy. People who get accepted don't have to apply for jobs ever again, jobs apply for them. I would also recommend reading up on the industry, Hey Whipple Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan is the classic place to start. And The Idea Writers by Teressa Iezzi is excellent and a little more up to date.

I'm going to PM you a link to my personal portfolio, which I made specifically to get my current job. I'd never done anything like this before and had zero training/experience. I really just pulled it all out of my ass in about a week and a half but I've gotten really positive feedback about it. I hope this helps. Keep me updated, if you feel like it. And please feel free to ask as many questions as you can think of.

Hire someone if you can. Copywriting is not something you can learn in a week. Sure, anyone can write, but persuasion, style, graphics elements are all elements you have to learn.

This is my best copywriting book of all time, and I have read a lot of them. It's simple, well-written, concise and very effective. Make sure to read "Elements of Style" a couple of times as well.

As for general pointers, here are a few quick, very quick tips:

1. Always keep your links blue. People like blue. People associate blue with a link. People want to click links. It's an urge. Come on, try not to click [this link] (http://youmightnothaveclickedbutyoulookedatitiwin.com)
   
   
2. Keep sentences short. Very short. People's attention span is low. After five seconds they won't even remember the beginning of your sentence. Here is an example: let's say you are trying to sell a product, and have very few times, and lots of variables to analyse from the webpage design to the text, where you have a complete control on every element of the project; basically, you only need to develop an excellent writing style and text and possibly mix it up with other graphical elements for other people and, first and foremost, customers, and you also need to think about the marketing department, which, obviously, will disagree with everything you do while you work for your prospective customer, while writing a first draft...
   
   Did you really read all that? Did you understand the message? Thought so.
   
   3) The simple most important point in copywriting is the header. Final answer Adwords can cost up to $1.00 a click. You know how much time most people will spend on your website after costing you a dollar? 5 seconds. Five little seconds. You have five seconds to impress them and the header is the first - and most of the time the only - thing they will read. Make it clear, outstanding, not too long and make it arise curiosity.
   
   Let me give you an example. Say you never went to reddit and had five seconds to decide whether it is a good website. Which header would be the most effective?
   
   "Well visitor to our fantastic website! My name is Mark and I created Reddit for people, just like you. Reddit is a place where blah blah blah".
   
   -or-
   
   "Interesting, funny, educating stories, upvoted by people like you"
   
   It's obviously still weak even under its second form, and it would be tough to write copywriting for reddit anyway, but you get the point.
   
   4) Unless what most people think, perfect grammar and orthograph are not a must You know where my perfectly-written texts end? In the thrash bin. The best copywriting I've read had various mistakes and ineffective sentences. Perfection does not sell. Nobody wants somebody perfection, despite what most people think. The fact you want perfection implies you will never be satisfied.
   
   That being said, do proof-read your text. Mistakes make you look like a fool, and too many of them will ruin your credibility.
   
   5) Sub-headers, Post-scriptum, facts, testimonies, guarantees are the most read element of a copywriting, in decreasing order of importance People like Post-scriptums. It should be the last thing on your page.
   
   6) Work on it, split-test it, think like a customer You cannot know how they think until you get data feedback. You won't get it right the first time unless you are extremely good and experienced.
   
   7) Your first copywriting attempts will be thrashed immediately. They will be incredibly bad. I am looking at my first copywriting attempts and they are simply ridiculous. The worst mistake? Too long. Keep things short. People are busy. No need for a ten-pages copywriting page if you sell a $10.00 product. Avoid technical terms. Be direct, friendly, professional and do not use hear-say.
   
   8) Everything is important in copywriting. Even positionning. Every pixel that lights or doesn't light up on a computer is important. What you don't put is almost as important as what you put. When you copywrite you need to think of everything. Everything. Rythm, pace, style, wording, positionning, color scheme, elements...
   
   9) Use everything you have. Bolded, italics, underlined, cross-lined, bullets points, and CSS to its full extent
   
   10) Call to action. Don't forget it
   
   This is FAR from all, and I haven't even discussed style, the most important elements in copywriting, but it should be a good starting point.

Sorry I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I'd add my two cents.

The great thing about copywriting is that anyone can do it, no matter their background. So don't stress about having the "schooling" needed for the job. All you need is a good work ethic and clever skills.

First — Definitely read up on all the books listed in other comments.

I'd also look into [Hey Whipple Squeeze This] (http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332) by Luke Sullivan, [Pick Me] (http://www.amazon.com/Pick-Me-Breaking-Advertising-Staying/dp/0471715573) by Nancy Vonk & Janet Kestin, and any and all advertising annuals you can get your hands on. Annuals are a great way to learn what works and see it in action. You can find some [recent award show annuals here] (http://www.welovead.com/en/bookshelf).


Second — Build your book.

Free time is a great asset. Use it. In order to really break in, you'll need a portfolio or spec book. This is a book of ads you've created that prove you can solve problems and write. Pick some products and make a campaign for them. The rule of thumb is 3 products with 3 ads each to show you can expand the idea beyond just one print or digital execution.

Many people go to portfolio school to build their book, but it's not necessary for everyone. I didn't do it and many copywriters I know didn't either.


Third — Network.

Although all of the above are important, they won't mean squat if you're not in the right place to talk to the right people. Try joining your local advertising club and go to their events. I'd also strongly suggest looking into [Portfolio Night] (http://www.portfolionight.com/12/). This is a global event held throughout the year that brings young creatives face-to-face with advertising professionals. Not only is it a great way to get some feedback on your book, but an outstanding way to network. You'll meet others like you and start conversations with the very people who could land you your next job.

Hope that wall of text helps. Good luck, man.

Apologies for being THAT Psych PhD student here, but there is this awesome pop-psychology book called The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell that basically describes in depth how trends happen (fashion trends, lifestyle trends, all of the trends). Its honestly a great read if you're into this kind of stuff! I'll summarize some of my fav points:

Gladwell describes three types of people that are essential for any trend:

• Connectors - these people are just insanely good at knowing and maintaining good relationships with a LOT of people. As a fun exercise, try to make a list of as many friends/acquaintances etc as you can, and trace them back to how you met them. Most people will find the same few individuals in their life who are responsible for a lot of the people they know. Basically 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon :)
  
  
• Mavens - these people are information and market EXPERTS. You know that friend who always seems to know exactly where you can get a better deal on literally anything? Who knows the best apps before others do? Who has knowledge to share on anything you could bring up? That's a market maven!
  
  
• Salesmen - these individuals have charisma up the wazoo. They are just that type who make you want to buy into whatever they're telling you about. Its impossible to not want to be like them. Ever seen that movie The Joneses? If you haven't you should. That is who they mean.
  
  Beyond these, he has great points about things such as the stickiness factor which describes something inherent about trends that is memorable and makes you continue thinking about the item/idea/etc. He talks about the context that allows a trend to flourish. There is a bonus awesome story about Paul Revere and how he was in a unique position to spread the word about the British coming. Awesome, right?

I may have worded that part a little incorrectly, I don't mean to infer that subliminal messaging has no effect, just that the effect isn't strong enough to effectively utilize in advertising in favour of other, less seedy methods. I recall watching a video in one of my college classes where three groups of designers were picked up and brought to an office and asked to design a logo. This office had in it, a whiteboard with a sheet over it that had a logo that had already been designed, and would not be revealed until the group had finished their logo. What the groups didn't know is that the route that they were driven on was incredibly complicated in it's own design, and exposed the designers to specific stimuli in a specific way, and all three groups recreated the hidden logo nearly perfectly without ever having seen it before hand. Now keep this in mind for later in this post.

My understanding of subliminal messaging is that it works on a basal appeal for a basal response. I'm going to link a couple of peer-reviewed sources here, but you'll likely have to search for the article in a database that you have access to yourself.

This article describes a study where flashing an image of the word "thirst" or a can of coke in a frame during an episode of the simpsons created a positive response, increasing the amount of people who described themselves as being "thirsty" after viewing the episode. The problem here is that this isn't a clear response of what you want from an ad. These subjects describe themselves as thirsty, but not what for. At this point, despite being "tricked" into be thirsty, nothing has been sold. They may go to the store and get a coke, but they're just as likely to go and get a pepsi, or mountain dew. They're considerably more likely to go no farther than their kitchen for a glass of water.

It is possible to get a more complicated response, however. This article describes the use of placing the brand name for a particular brand of rum backwards within an ad, and the response from this was overwhelming. Up to 80% of the subjects showed a preference for that particular brand of rum after being exposed. That's incredible. An 80% positive response to an ad is every creative director's wet dream. However, it application, it's completely useless.

The fact is that we're constantly being stimulated on a subconscious level within our natural environments, and as fast as something goes in, its replaced by something else. The experiment with the designers and the logo from before? If they were taken on the contrived route, but told to wait a day before designing the logo, the results would not have been the same. Furthermore, from the 3 groups that were "successful," you didn't hear about the 30 that "failed." That kind of response is not a simple feat — it would've taken months of planning and testing and failing before a formula for exposure could be created to achieve that response.

This brings up two key points about subliminal advertising:

1. It takes an incredible amount of time and resources in order to effectively craft a subliminal delivery for a desired response. It's more likely that the amount of money spent on creating the ad will exceed the amount of money made because of it.
   
   
2. Time is a factor. In order to foster a long-term response, the subject must be repeatedly exposed in a controlled environment for a period of time adequate to shape behaviour. 80% response to that rum ad is all well and good, but want for a product is not the same as buying it. I just saw an ad for Lay's chips, and I want some now. However, it's raining, and I'm lazy, so I'm not about to run out to the store. By the time I find myself IN a store, and WILLING to buy chips, I'm probably going to get Doritos, because I just plain like them more.
   
   The only way for that rum ad to be successful is if I saw it as I stepped into a liquor store. It's only effective if I see it while I'm in the position to act upon it, and I HAVE TO SEE IT in that moment in order for it to achieve it's desired effect. Weigh that against "The Big Idea," where the goal is to have the brand appeal to me every time I find myself in a position to act upon it, regardless of whether or not I've just then been exposed to the ad.
   
   Think of it like this: I go to the drugstore for deodorant, and as I step in, I'm exposed to subliminal advertising that causes me to buy outside my brand preference. The next time I go, that ad isn't there, and I'm likely to buy my preference again, as I'm not being stimulated into doing otherwise. Of course, this could work if the brand I'm "tricked" into buying happens to be superior to my old brand, and I decide to continue buying the new brand, but realistically, that won't be the case. It's deodorant — the majority of brands work just as well, and offer the same range of scents, and it's very unlikely that I'm going to be swayed by the quality of one brand versus another, because it's just simply deodorant. It's not a complicated thing.
   
   In that regard, I was a Right Guard man until Isaiah Mustafa came on the scene, and I converted fairly quickly. I still buy Old Spice to this day. It's probably one of the best examples of "sex sells" done right. No subliminal advertising, no dirty tricks, just a damn good ad campaign, done right.
   
   In regards to your question about ad agencies and that kind of market research, that thing is often client side in the marketing department. Companies will either do that sort of thing internal, or hire an external research company to do it, and then sell the result in order to break even on the venture. They'll then include the results in the brief they send to us in the form of "We want an ad for this, that includes this, this, and this, and accomplishes this," where "this" is various angles of tactics that they want to employ.
   
   I'm not entirely sure if agencies have their own versions, but I do know that psychology degrees are not uncommon in the field, especially in copywriters, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I've worked for a smaller agency since I got out of school, and we certainly don't have that kind of resources, but I can't speak for the bigger agencies. I have a few friends at BBDO, though, so I'll ask them the next time I see them if I remember, and I'll shoot you a message in response.
   
   Since you seem to have a lot of interest in the creative process in regards to advertising and your field of work, check out Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!, Differentiate or Die, and Do-it-yourself Lobotomy, three go-to books for ad creatives. They offer a pretty good outlook on what advertisers go through mentally in order to do what we do. I promise that we haven't sold our souls in order to get you to sell yours.

Here is what I recommend currently:

For beginners:

Free: https://www.coursera.org/courses?languages=en&query=digital+marketing

Paid: https://www.udacity.com/course/digital-marketing-nanodegree--nd018#

(You can get it free if you take the courses with out the degree)

Foundations To Advanced Topics:

Paid: http://neilpatel.com/advanced-marketing-program/

(Neil Patel is one of the few Internet Marketers I would trust. He has successful businesses and is fairly transparent)



Books that can help you with marketing:


Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Once you read this book you will see the techniques used everywhere in marketing. Once you understand the techniques you can apply them yourself.

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller - Everyone talks about copywriting, but IMO most copy is written way to salsy and is obvious. I have had much better results using stories to sell and most of my sales pages use story telling techniques to bring the reader on a journey.

The Copywriters Handbook - That said, you should still understand the point of copy and this book does a good job. Once you know the fundamentals of copywriting you can sell almost anything.

What to avoid:

Avoid any courses that are selling Techniques or formulas (I.E: My Super Awesome Snapchat Method that brought in $5000") while most have useful information the issue is simple:

Formulas/Templates/Tactics will only get you so far and won't always work. Yes, some methods have been proven to work time and time again, but you are still better off learning the fundamentals of marketing and sales over reusing tactics and templates.

By learning the fundamentals you will be able to rapidly test and try new things to see what works and doesn't. This will give you more flexibility and success in the long wrong.

Most people sell courses around tactics because most customers want a lazy way to make money. Do they work? yes and no. There is no real answer - these tactics may work for you or not as there are a lot of things to factor in.

When buying a course check out the instructor. A lot of Internet Marketers only had 1 success before selling courses on the subject. If someone claims to be an awesome marketer and doesn't have more than 1 success as proof, something is wrong and most likely that success was a fluke.

Most trustworthy marketers normally will have a long track record of successes or at the very least have well known clients (Google/Facebook/Coke/etc).

TL;DR: Avoid tactics/templates/Formulas and learn the fundamentals of marketing.

Here are all the books with amazon links, Alphabetical order :)

---

• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1591396190
  
• Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh et al. Link: http://amzn.com/160941280X
  
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Link: http://amzn.com/0804137382
  
• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days by Jessica Livingston Link: http://amzn.com/1590597141
  
• How Google Works by Eric Schmidt et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1455582344
  
• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk Link: http://amzn.com/006227306X
  
• Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson Link: http://amzn.com/0307720748
  
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1400064287
  
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck Link: http://amzn.com/0345472322
  
• Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0385346654
  
• Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim S. Grover et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1476714207
  
• Rework by Jason Fried et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0307463745
  
• Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin Link: http://amzn.com/1591842948
  
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss Link: http://amzn.com/0307465357
  
• The Choose Yourself Guide To Wealth by James Altucher Link: http://amzn.com/150100994X
  
• The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: *God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison by Mike Wilson Link: http://amzn.com/0060008768
  
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz Link: http://amzn.com/0062273205
  
• The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen Link: http://amzn.com/0062060244
  
• The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries Link: http://amzn.com/0307887898
  
• The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime by MJ DeMarco Link: http://amzn.com/B004BDOUAI
  
• The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday Link: http://amzn.com/1591846358
  
• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1885167776
  
• The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve Blank et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0984999302
  
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Link: http://amzn.com/0316346624
  
• Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth by Gabriel Weinberg et al. Link: http://amzn.com/1591848369
  
• Unlabel: Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko Link: http://amzn.com/1451685319
  
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel et al. Link: http://amzn.com/0804139296

This is going to get buried under the shitload of answers you are getting, but I hope you see this, or that it'll at least help someone else.

I've had this problem for a few months now : even hanging out with friends, I was losing the capacity of having a conversation. I started talking more and more about me, and the more I talked, the more I felt like a douche. So I took steps.
First, I started asking more questions about the stories people were telling, refraining myself to tell my side of the story, my view of the story, or just my story ('cause this behavior sucks ass). For a while, it was getting better, but it didn't feel natural.

After an evening at a friend's place, where we had a closeup magician doing a show, I realized that it was not only about what I was saying, it was about what I was thinking that made me feel like a douche. This guy, this magician, was so charming, so fucking captivating. It was my first time experiencing closeup magic, and I was just sold. After the show, I went and asked him how he was doing it. Not the magic tricks, but the social tricks. He told me that he read lots of books, and that basically, he was convincing himself before each show, to be who he needed to be. He was acting, he was playing a fucking nice guy who didn't give two shits about himself but only cared about others. And it caught on, became more natural. He mastered this skill, and went from doing magic shows all around the world (even Vegas) to giving conferences to leaders on how to be better managers.

After reading some of those books, and doing a bit of research, I understood what he was saying : Fake it until you make it. I actually discovered through some TED talks (amazing stuff) that you can fake it until you become it.

From my point of view, there's a couple of skills to master to become a good conversationalist. Body language is very important : to understand the body language of others to better adapt yours and be seen as non-threatening. You have to understand the science of influence, and how humans react to interactions with others. And to become a master at it : you have to be sincere. You can't fake honesty 100%. Somewhere along the way, your body language will screw you, or you'll slip and people will understand that you are faking it. That is why you have to become a character who doesn't fake it.

Here is the list of the books and videos I read/watched about those skills. Some where recommended on Reddit, others I just found them. The books are sorted by most important in my opinion. And even if I bought them (thrift or not), you can still find all of them online.

• Videos
  
• TED Talk : Body language and the power of the hands
  
• TED Talk : Fake until you become it
  
• TED Talk : How to manage your stress (when talking in public)
  
• TED Talk : How to speak so people will want to listen
  
• The Science of Influence
  
• Books
  
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
  
• What Every BODY Is Saying - An ex FBI agent's guide to speed reading people - Joe Navarro
  
• Influence : Science and Practice - Robert Cialdini
  
• It's Not All About "Me": The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone - Robin Dreeke
  
• Yes!, 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive - Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin, Robert Cialdini
  
  
• Phil Hellumth Presents Read Em and Reap - Joe Navarro, Marvin Karlins, Hellmuth Phil
  
• The Definitive Book of Body Language - Barbara Pease, Allan Pease
  
  Hope it helps.

I've gotten a lot of emails that look exactly like this one and I immediately delete them because they're spam. You need to answer two fundamental questions: Why should they trust you? and Why should they pay attention to you? You're not giving them a reason to trust you because you're essentially a nobody with no track record. You're not giving them a reason to pay attention to you because there's nothing personalized or unique to them about this email, you talk way too much about yourself, and you don't talk enough about what you can ultimately do for them.

Here's a breakdown of the current email:

> I'm Joe, a Web Developer from X.

Intro is alright. Before that you might want to say, "Hi $name,".

> Recently I found your website, and, was curious if you would be interested in working towards building a new one?

Why? What's the business case for a new website over their old website? What's the benefit?

> I currently work for a web agency in X, who offer web services for small, medium, and, large businesses, though I'm looking for further work to help businesses in the area.

Is it you or the agency offering services? This is confusing. Help businesses do what exactly? You could say, "At $web_agency I've worked on projects for multi-million dollar businesses such as X, Y, Z but now I'm leveraging my experience to help businesses like yours in $your_market do A, B, C."

> I have worked on hundreds of websites and have been working in the industry for nearly 6 years.

But what results did you get? Did you increase sales by X% for ABC company? What can you do for them? Don't make it about yourself.

> Additionally, I have a strong knowledge in SEO, which can help your website perform better within Google's search results.

What's SEO? Why should they care?

> I am really good at what I can do, and, can offer an agency service with non-agency prices.

Don't tell, show. And don't compete on price, please...

> Let me know if this is something you would be interested in.
> If you would like chat and organise a meeting to discuss this further, feel free to email me back, or call me on X

Why not create an attention-grabbing hook like, "$name, let's set up a quick 5 minute call so we can discuss a few ways your website can be improved to increase appointments/sales/etc by 20% like I've done for my other clients."

I suggest you read Pitch Anything and CA$HVERTISING.

Before killing yourself to try to promote a company that's paying you less than minimum wage you should make sure you have a clear path to success mapped out. If you double the listeners of this radio station by breaking your back for a pittance -- who's say that the owner/manager decides to hire someone with a more marketing-focused background once they have additional revenue coming in?

A good plan would be to do this: Schedule a meeting with your superior and tell him that you're interested in expanding your roles and responsibility with the organization. Make sure to stress that you're not trying to shirk your current duties and responsibilities but rather you have an interest in helping the company to grow. Ask him, politely but plainly, if company growth could somehow benefit your wages / salary; for example, if you do well and show that you're improving the company over the next 30-60 days, if that could translate directly to another £1. Then another £1. And so on.

Be careful about this because it could backfire and you could lose your job entirely, but it's worth the effort because then at least you know where things stand. Once you know where things stand - go wild. Buy some basic marketing books such as Zag: The Number One Strategy of High Performance Brands and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. These don't necessarily have immediate strategies/tactics, rather they'll help your mind start working properly in terms of what type of marketing strategies can be successful. Then, for immediate strategies, start reading sites like Entrepreneur's Marketing section every day. You'd be surprised at many growth efforts are simply logical. The formula is simple: knowledge + time = growth -> success.

Good luck!

EDIT: Source - I build companies.

Cool - you had an idea in about 30 seconds of reading/thinking. Awesome start. Now throw more time at it and come up with more ideas. Like 50-100 ideas. And not just rewrites of the same thought, but as much variety as you can muster. The saying that 'the best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas' is absolutely true.

Once you've got your 50-100 ideas on a page, figure out which 2 or 3 are the strongest, most interesting ideas. Everything else goes in the bin (I've literally thrown out about 80% of the work I've produced over the last 22 years) and you start tweaking the way those lines are written, or throwing an image in with them and see if that makes it stronger. Just keep pulling things apart and rejoining them in new ways. It's really like playing with a bunch of Lego (which is fun!).

You don't know how this thing is going to look in the end. But you keep trying stuff until you feel like it's right.

Buy, beg, borrow or steal a copy of 'Hey Whipple, Squeeze This'. It's got an awesome chapter on finding new ways into a brief and new angles on a headline.

Good luck. :)

Would love to add anyone on Goodreads if you use it too :) [Add me](https://www.goodreads.com/thedoerco
)

• Tested Advertising Method
  
• Ogilvy on Advertising
  
• How to Change Minds is a sales book, but it's got an easy to understand framework to understand how people make decisions that I have found useful for marketing
  
• The Ask Method Gives some great jumping off points on how to ask questions for marketing research, and how to organize that information to make decisions about your marketing and your product
  
• Positioning and Repositioning by the amazing marketing strategist Jack Trout of Disney and Coke, are good foundation reads if you don't know anything about marketing. If you know what a USP is, skip Positioning but I did like Repositioning. I did like Positioning as a refresher of a variety of different concepts that I have read more detailed individual books on.
  
• Integrated Marketing Communications to learn about more broadly how to make all of your marketing communications work together towards a common business goal. The book itself is about using marketing campaigns across different channels (tv, radio, print, online) in a coordinated effort, but it will help you understand how to use email, social, paid ads, and other marketing systems you develop together.
  
  Second Influence. Getting Everything You Can is good if you are basic in marketing, I would not recommend it for people who are more advanced.
  
  If you don't know what a "business goal" is, you need to read this:
  
  
• Scaling Up Every marketer should understand the processes that drive growth in businesses, because you are trying to manipulate those levers with marketing. You can also reverse engineer your prospect's business and explain the gains of your services in the terms of processes that drive their revenue when you're pitching them, too.

The Four-Hour Workweek seems to spark up a lot of controversy when mentioned, I was even skeptical when reading it, but it honestly changed my life. It inspired me to become an entrepreneur, it's packed with case studies that inspire you to escape 9 to 5, and has plenty of great resources for someone starting their first online business, or for anyone looking to improve their work efficiency and spend less time at the office.

I'm also currently reading:

• The Tipping Point
  
  
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
  
  
• How to Win Friends and Influence People
  
  
  May seem overly mentioned or cliche, but they're cliche for a reason!

Your in a position that many would love to be in and many more would never be able to get to.

Your marketing campaign,
Get the following books (quick easy and enjoyable reads):
The Brand Gap ,
22 laws of marketing

• Offer cloud services and support to startups for free for three months, they apply via your website, pick the most promising ones. They must have your logo/link on their website somewhere e.g. "Hosting provided by" etc.
  
• Sponser hackertons or hacker meet up related activities.
  
• Offer free services to blogs you like.
  
  Your company,
  Rebrand your company within 2 months. Top notch website+server control panel UI. Get Blogging.
  
  Your Services,
  
  
• Focus on something, cloud hosting or dedicated servers. Which ever you feel your best at.
  
• Provide Cloud Hosting Images pre-installed with apache, mysql, php, webmin, vhosts, mail etc. Make it easier for new customers to setup a ready to go server quick as possible knowing all the configuations are correct.
  
  Your Sanity,
  Discuss with your best respected staff.

Hi Dan, recently graduated graphic designer here. A good gift to give is a graphics tablet. It increases productivity a lot and it is kinda like drawing, though there is a bit of a learning curve but you get used to it after a few days with it.

I recommend this brand Wacom Intuos Art Pen and Touch digital graphics, drawing & painting tablet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010LHRFYU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_FdmvybKD0ZDC0 they are the apple of design tablets.

Other alternatives are graphic design books. I book that helped me a lot thought school because of my professor is Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119164001/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_iimvybHF3B2Q7 it helps you understand the creative process of design and conceptual design. It can be applied to different aspects of graphic design doesn't really have to be in advertising.

Hopefully this helps. Get you started, also now is a good time to do freelance or internships or both. I started freelancing during my junior and senior year and internships. The more experience she can get the better and fill up and make a portfolio both printed and online. The sooner the better.

> In order to bring in enough money to live, I'd probably have to advertise […]

My main point is that word-of-mouth can be very powerful, viral advertising. I highly recommend reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

> […] and work with unknown clients. That's when things get stressful and annoying.

My secondary point is that if you're aquiring clients through closer connections such as friends, friends of friends, or even friends of friends of friends, yes, they will be progressively more "unknown" and "untrustworthy" but it's still (in my opinion) the best method of finding the most trustworthy first.

What have you got to lose? Not much, when you consider the flexible time schedule. That is, start with a full-time job supporting you financially, and do freelance work in your (little) free time until you reach a point where you can support yourself with a part-time job plus freelancing. From there you can try progressing to supporting yourself mostly or fully with freelance work.

> That's when things get stressful and annoying.

So, your present job is neither stressful nor annoying?

What kind of marketing will you be doing?

There are a lot of good resources out there. I've been in some marketing role for the past 10 years (developer working in support of B2B marketing, B2C/e-commerce, currently B2B targeting large corporations) and depending on what you are doing I could help point you in different directions.

One thing you have to figure out is how metrics driven you will be. The past few years have shown a big shift from marketing for marketing's sake to true measurement of performance (i.e. ROI).

There is a great book called "Marketing Metrics" that talks all about this. There's another good web site, MarketingNPV.com that talks about marketing measurement.

While that is at a higher level (in other words, if your boss doesn't do this stuff now it will be hard for you to come in and try to change his mind) you will want to focus on a few other things. Some books that have helped me a lot in terms of general marketing education:

Building Strong Brands - if the role is more brand focused. Obviously doesn't hurt to learn this stuff as growing and updating your perspective always helps.

Copywriter's Handbook - I think this is necessary for any marketer. Learn how to write succinct selling copy. In my experience, learning how to use words well is a key skill in any marketing role. I've used it to write tag lines, brochure/collateral copy, web copy, large PDFs for lead generation, press releases, etc.

Copyblogger - Good online resource. They are very salesy (always trying to push some eBook or webinar), but if you can deal with that there is some good knowledge there.

Good luck! Marketing can be very fun... just prepare yourself, in this industry there are a lot of people who are much better at marketing themselves than marketing their company or product. Fortunately, as more executives and marketers start focusing on measurement of results, these people will be weeded out.

Hope this helps.

Marketing in itself is a skill. It takes time to learn how to market efficiently and effectively. Of course I'll provide you with some tips to help you.

First off, NETWORK! Talk with people and tell them what you do. Start with friends and family. Those friends and family will hopefully tell their friends and family, and then so on and so forth. Get your name just out there.

Social media is a great way to market and get your brand recognized. Run accounts under your brand name and post frequently. With it a blog always works great. Talk about your life, stuff you've learned, stuff your learning, a "How-to" post, it doesn't matter blog.

To go more on the active side of marketing, the best way is to CONTACT DIRECTLY. Create a list of businesses that represent you and ones that you would want to provide your services for. Get contact info with each business, a spreadsheet would work nicely here, including their email, phone number, address etc. The best way I would say is to email them. Talk about your services and maybe offer a discount if they do decide to work with you and use your services. Don't pester them, but contact them again if they don't answer. Just DON'T over do it.

A little tidbit, you're not selling "Web Design services" pur se, but rather you're selling the consumer a new business out reach and marketing approach. You're selling them a chance to grow their business, and if they pay you, they will profit.

Marketing again is a skill, and one that's good to learn. I'd advice learning how to market. Whether it be through a class, a book, or online resources.

I hope this helps! :)

I'm actually reading a book right now that discusses a bit of the history of the Airwalk shoe brand. Apparently the reason they were as successful as they were for those couple of years was because they produced good products that were loyal to the more skating oriented demographic they were designed for. However, they also moved into mass marketing the shoes to make them more appealing to a broader spectrum of people - mostly to get their shoes into more "trendy" stores and into malls, that sort of the thing.

Their marketing campaign was very good at staying on top of/ahead of trends that were about to become huge, successful fads and so a lot of their marketing directly reflected what was deemed cool at the time by their general demographics. That would probably explain why that shirt has the name of a shoe written in the same font as a hugely popular band of the time period. They're marketing team was very good at what they did.

Sorry, I just thought it was really cool that I literally just read about that in the last few days and here I am viewing a picture that completely illustrates something that the book talked about. "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell for anyone interested. It's pretty interesting although I don't love the way he writes.

Anyway, enough of that. /rant

And I have these in my list on amazon. Would love to get some opinions on them:

 

How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

 

Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More

by Robert Bly

 

Words that Sell

by Richard Bayan

 

Tested Advertising Methods

by Caples and Hahn

 

Writing That Works

by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson

 

Confessions of an Advertising Man

by David Ogilvy

 

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

by Al Ries and Jack Trout

 

The Robert Collier Letter Book

by Robert Collier

 

Nicely Said: Writing for the Web with Style and Purpose

by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee

 

Letting Go of the Words

by Janice (Ginny) Redish

 

Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers

by Harold Evans

 

Can I Change Your Mind?: The Craft and Art of Persuasive Writing

by Lindsay Camp

 

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

by Roy Peter Clark

 

Read Me: 10 Lessons for Writing Great Copy

by Roger Horberry and Gyles Lingwood

 

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads

by Luke Sullivan

 

WRITE IN STEPS: The super simple book writing method

by Ian Stables

 

On Writing Well

by William Zinsser

 

The Wealthy Freelancer

by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage and Ed Gandia

 

Write Everything Right!

by Denny Hatch

 

The Secret of Selling Anything

by Harry Browne

 

The Marketing Gurus: Lessons from the Best Marketing Books of All Time

by Chris Murray

 

On Writing

by Stephen King

 

Writing for the Web

by Lynda Felder

 

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content

by Ann Handley

 

This book will teach you how to write better

by Neville Medhora

Some things to check out:

• The list mentioned in the sidebar
  
  
• This Wikiversity page for a good high-level intro
  
  
• Book: Positioning for brand strategy
  
  
• Books: Influence and Fascinate for consumer psychology concepts
  
  
• Book: The Tipping Point for big how big ideas take off
  
  
• Book: Don't Make Me Think for website usability
  
  
• Website: Hubspot marketing hubs (I haven't actually looked too much into this site, but it looks ok at first glance).
  
  These are just some specific things I've found helpful in the past, and most of them (the books) are related to specific concepts, so keep in mind that there are many other topics that you should look to other sources for. For example, for search engine optimization, there's Seomoz.org. For low-cost marketing alternatives, there's Guerrilla Marketing. For ongoing general marketing tips, there's Duct Tape Marketing or various things from Seth Godin. All things considered, I'd say you should become familiar with the high-level marketing topics (the Wikiversity page), then tackle those topics in more detail by googling around or asking for recommendations on reddit.
  
  Side note: Might not appear entirely relevant to you at this time, but it's never a bad idea to brush up on your Microsoft Excel skills. Many marketing associates (especially in industries related to taxes, etc.) have to deal with Excel a lot, and therefore can benefit from learning optimal/automated ways of doing things in Excel.

Happy belated birthday. I finally have some time to respond to this when I'm at the office and have relevant things handy.

Books to read:

• 
  
  
• The Board Member's Book: Making a Difference in Voluntary Organizations by Brian O'Connell, published by the Foundation Center. If you only read one of these books, read this one. Despite the title, this book is about creating and using good volunteers at all levels. For organizations I work with, every time a new "class" of volunteers comes in, I like to give all of them copies of this book and have a few discussions about it.
  
  
• Developing Dynamic Boards by James Hardy. This book is more focused on the board of directors, and it's very detailed-- a good textbook and road map.
  
  
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. This one may even have been translated into Estonian. In brief, it's a system for looking at big processes and finding the places where your effort can make a difference.
  
  
• Good To Great: Why some companies make the leap and others don't by Jim Collins. This book looks at factors that create success or failure in growing organizations.
  
  
  

I love reading these because it's so off base. No it is nothing like Mad Men. Chances are unless you are upper management you won't be making the industry average in salaries. If you want to take something away from it, watch how defeated they get when a client bitches about something not being right... then amplify that 10 fold, throw in a few "can we make the logos bigger", and put in a little working overtime to meet deadlines and going crazy. Another thing, if you aren't in college yet, you aren't "very good" with psychology or design... you may have gotten a good grade in AP classes and messed around in photoshop in your lab class, but there is much more to learn.

I'm not trying to be belittling, you just need to change your mindset completely on this as it seems pretty obvious you only have a media view of the field. Check out some ad work down by big companies. Check out the CLIO winners for the last few years. Read books on the subject like Ogilvy on Advertising or Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. Also, you aren't going to be doing all of these things, firms are done mostly in groups. You have your Accounts team (Pete Campbell, schmoozing and coordinating with the client), Design Team (Salvatore and Peggy, less copywriting now though) and sometimes Media and Project teams... depending on the agency. Each has their skills and contributions, so in all likelyhood if you want to work in an actual agency setting you will likely have to specialize. Like writing and planning? Take marketing. Like design and web-structure? Take Graphic Design and/or Computer Science. Psychology is not a particularly useful field in itself, as many of the psychological aspects are covered in their usefulness in the aforementioned majors.

Lastly, you won't know for sure what you want to do until a few years in, and that's fine. If you really like the idea of agency work though, DO INTERNSHIPS. There is no other way to get into the field and learn about the ins and outs. There are a lot of great things about the industry, but it's not all rainbows and panache.

Read

Here are three books to get you started:

• Predatory Thinking
  
• Creative Mischief
  
• Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This
  
  Get noticed
  
  Advertising is mostly about making sure that people see your product in the mess of crap that people have to deal with. If you want to break into advertising, it's the same principle.
  
  The trick is to treat your submission like a brief. How can I grab their attention? How can I prove myself quickly?
  
  Alec Brownstein is a good example. As The Guardian says:
  >He bought Google Adwords spots next to the names of six ad executives he wanted to work with, and waited for the job offers to come in.
  
  >And they did.
  
  Build your portfolio
  
  Find your best stuff. Make some new stuff (just make sure you put that it was for your own pleasure, and wasn't used).
  
  Make your portfolio an example in itself.
  
  Make a kickass covering letter
  
  Letters of note has a great one for inspiration. It starts off:
  >I like words.
  
  Don't confuse the kinds of copywriting
  
  Not all kinds of writing are advertising. Copywriters will also do business letters. They'll help clients with their brand's tone. They'll write copy for webpages.
  
  Ad agencies might be interested in that. But they're going to be more interested in your headlines. That you can grab someone's attention and make them cry and laugh.
  
  Don't fucking give up
  
  It's going to be tough. But you can do it.

The Idea Writers - Tons of Case Studies, but they're all told excellently.

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be - Inspiration not to settl and to do great work.

Baked In - A lot like an updated Purple Cow. All about integrating product, management, and marketing.

Blink or Tipping Point - About the little things that cause shifts in culture to happen.

Also, some Seth Godin action never hurts. Definitely recommend his blog.

If you want more "How to make ads" type stuff there are more down that path, too. Just let me know.

Well, it's my job, so definitely I can recommend some resources for you to learn from.


Customer Manipulation - Chloe Thomas

Seductive Interaction Design Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences - Stephen Anderson

Gamify How Gamification Motivates People to Do Extraordinary Things - Brian Burke(2014)

Tested Advertising Methods

The Irresistible Offer How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less - Mark Joyner 2005

Brainfluence 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing - Roger Dooley

No need to thank me Jeff Bezos, you rich smart man.

Start With Why [Simon Sinek]

48 Laws of Power [Robert Greene] (33 Strategies of War, Art of Seduction)

The 50th Law [Curtis James Jackson]

Tipping Point:How Little Things Can Make a Difference and Outliers: The story of Succes [Malcolm Gladwell]

The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy [Ryan Holiday] (stoicism)

[Tim Ferris] (actually haven't read any of his books, but seems to know a way to use social media, podcast, youtube)

Get an understanding to finance, economics, marketing, investing [Graham, Buffet], philosophy [Jordan Peterson]

I like to think us/you/business is about personal development, consciousness, observing recognizable patterns in human behavior and historical significance. It's an understanding of vast areas of subjects that connect and intertwine then returns back to the first book you’ve read (Start with Why) and learn what you've read past to present. Business is spectacular, so is golf.



To Add:

Irrationally Predictable:The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions - [Dan Ariely] (marketing)

The Hard Things About Hard Things - [Ben Horowitz] (business management)

Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It - [Charlamagne Tha God] (motivation)

The Lean Startup: Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses - [Eric Ries]

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, How to Build the Future - [Peter Theil]

This might sound odd, but you could try your hand at copywriting, at least the short copy and direct mail variety. You have a limited space and have to make every word count. "Tested Advertising Methods" and "How to Write a Good Advertisement" are good starts, especially the information on using short words and sentences.

The main idea is to use a more direct style and make every word have more meaning, and to be honest, copywriting is one of the best ways I know how to do that.

"MTIV ..." by Hillman Curtis is a great read, and is packed with wisdom and inspiration.

"Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!" by Luke Sullivan is about advertising. So it's not exactly a design book, but it's all about thinking outside the box and making it in the real world as a professional creative, which totally applies to us. Plus, Sullivan is a really fun writer.

Finally, "Make it Bigger" by Paula Scher is an excellent memoir by a living legend.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0735711658?pc_redir=1398499744&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1118101332?pc_redir=1398472389&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1568985487?pc_redir=1398526939&robot_redir=1

• The 48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene
  
  • Animated YouTube version
    
• Dominate: Conquer Your Fears. Become The Man You Want to Be. - David De Las Morenas
  
• The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
  
• The Slight Edge - Jeff Olson
  
  All excellent books. I have personally met each author and they are amazing men that live what they write.
  
  Of course, good ole Dale Carnegie's book in How to Win Friends & Influence people comes to mind, but his book lacks the tenacity and ferocity needed to succeed. It's lessons are excellent, but often it's too nice.
  
  
  

Sweet. Another suggestion, depending on what type of work she does, I recommend a great book that specifically talks about creating good advertisements. If she designs anything relating to branding, brand identity or ads, this is a must read - however, if she does these things theres a high percentage she might have read it.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This

best of luck to y'all with the wedding

Oh boy, have I got some stuff for you. There's endless information about how to market your podcast. Here's some stuff to get you started.

• Libsyn Webinar: Growing your podcast audience
  
• Libsyn Webinar: Social media best practices for podcasters
  
• Talk: Growth Hacking by Sam Ellis
  
• Podcast: Masters of Scale - Why finding fans that love what you do is the most important thing to growing
  
• Talk: GaryVee on marketing online in 2018
  
• Talk: Seth Godin on getting you idea to spread
  
• Book: Small Giants - why targetting a small audience is the key to becoming a giant
  
• Book: Tipping Point or in other words, what is critical mass, how to get there, and why it's important to growing your thing.
  
• Article: 1,000 True Fans
  
  There's tons more on this topic. Let me know if you want more. I'm also curious to hear what you do yourself to grow your show and what's worked.

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan

The Advertising Concept Book by Pete Barry

Those are two English books I have been exposed too when I was learning advertising as a sidetrack on design school. I'd say next to these search something good about storytelling commercially and how to think lateral.

Good luck and my best tip would be, fall in love with the to market product/service/person and have fun!

Advertising is a great way to look at a bunch of jobs in the creative field. I think no matter what, you should consider yourself a freelancer, even if you do get a fulltime. In the creative world, you are your brand, and your work is just part of it. Your personality, work ethic, personal style, people who you know, is all part of it. Still interested? Firms big and small are always looking for interns, even now while you're in high school. Do you know anyone in the field who might be interested in having you hang around?
Also I'd recommend this book to perk your interest in advertising: http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332/ref=asap_B000APJCEA?ie=UTF8

Hey Whipple Squeeze This is a really phenomenal overview of creating ads. It is a very engaging and informative read and is perfect for those looking to break into the industry.

Ogilvy on Advertising delves a bit more into the overall experience of working at an agency like what the account team does vs. media teams and so on in addition to actually making ads. It's a bit dated but I think it holds up pretty well. Sure a few of his predictions about the industry didn't come to fruition and the book primarily focuses on TV spots and longform magazine ads (you can't write about banner ads or Facebook ads in 1985) but I'd say a lot of the concepts Ogilvy touches on are pretty timeless.

Here is a solid list from PeopleScience. It is a pretty good site. Also, behaviroalscientist.org is a good place to find information.

​

For marketing, I would recommend Neuromarketing by Patrick Renvoise and Christophe Morin.

​

Any book by Jonah Berger is a good read, but I am bit bias based on school affiliation. Contagious and Invisible Influence are my personal favorites by him.

​

Let me know if you have any questions.

​

Best of luck with the study!

​

One of the best things I heard when going to college for advertising was to think "What is the one thing that will get the audience you want to buy your product? Make that the focus." You're not going to come to that conclusion without researching. Find out the purpose of the product, the objective of the ad, the benefits the product has, the point of difference it has against competitors, the tone of the brand, the target audience, the target concern of that audience and then use all of that to solve a barrier that the audience or brand has. And if you really want to get creative read some of the many amazing advertising books out there when you are out of ideas. Good luck!

Don't ever let someone tell you that you can't do something. I'm a dyslexic copywriter but I still generate great work. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. I PROMISE you that it will help you in your quest to make the switch.

I highly recommend Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, which is basically a simplified and actionable version of his more popular book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

Note: I have not read the latter book.

PsyBlog is also great (not related to Cialdini).
And of course, How to Win Friends and Influence People is a classic and is still relevant.

>If one cover was better than another you wouldn’t see books constantly rereleased with new covers.

There's lots to unpick here, but I'd suggest you read Chris Fox's Relaunch Your Novel to get a bit more knowledge of this point.

Covers absolutely matter, it's why everyone from the big five to top-selling indies invest in them. Data-driven authors like Fox, Cooper, and Anderle invest in them heavily because they matter so significantly. Part of it is branding, sure, but it's also making your product compelling.

A few people aren't influenced by covers, but they're a minority. Reader decisions for things like KU next-to-read are done based on a thumbnail when their kindle suggests their next book.

I've got data based on my own publishing journey to back this up. I changed covers on a series and watched sales tank, and reswitched covers and they picked back up. Blurb + price + reviews were all the same, so if it's not covers selling books, is it sorcery? :)

The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat By Oliver Sacks is an amazing book about odd neurological disorders and what they do to people. It is a fascinating, well-written book that was very easy to read.

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain By Oliver Sacks is another very interesting book about how music affects the brain.

The Definitive Book of Body Language is another good book that'll make you a bit more observant of people.

The Art of War is always a classic, good, and informative read.

Those have been my favorite. I have a friend who suggest The Tipping Point is a really good book, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Hope that helped.

Edit: Me grammar wrongs

As a 10+ year marketer, some of the other comments about particular books going out of relevance fast is correct; most of the marketing books in my bookshelf are already out-dated and some are only a year or two old.

That being said, one of the best marketing books I've ever read isn't technically a marketing book: Yes! 50 Scientifically ways to be more persuasive. It is AMAZING and there are so many lessons in there that I've used in different ways.

​

I'm running a blog to try and help small businesses keep on top of marketing from a "DIY" perspective. In the spirit of not self-promoting I'll not link to it here; but if there is some specific topic you're interested in my covering, let me know, and I'm happy to queue up an article about it in the next few months!

Perry Marshall might rub people the wrong way with his insanely long form sales copy but he's been an amazing resource for me and my learning. He sells courses online that are worth the 200$ if you're really wanting to study yourself.

In my opinion, start with a joint book that's regularly updated, see if you like Perry's teaching style and then maybe go for a course. His website really is a good lesson in long form sales copy. (Which in his niche works well, especially for people in your mindset)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1599184419/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Sorry for the mobile link, but Googling or Amazoning Perry Marshall will get you what you're looking for.

First off, read this a few times if you haven't yet. Like right away. Multiple times.

Second, your portfolio is garbage (that's okay, mine is too and I've been doing this for 10 years). In my opinion, it doesn't show enough thinking--it's a collection of executions, most of which are kind of generic. The best thinking on there is the #antiselfie concept for Canon. That could be a great campaign, but you can't just one-and-done it. Show it in multiple executions, more headlines, maybe write a short Anti-Selfie manifesto. Show thinking that goes beyond ads or Facebook posts. Like, what if Canon bought outdoor space in front of classic selfie backdrops that told people to turn their cameras around, get a life, etc.?

Then do more campaigns like that. If you can, find an art director who will do the comps for you. I know it feels like the writing and thinking should stand on its own, but having a pro-quality comp makes the ideas look more pro.

Keep at it!

Good question. Tbh marketing is fairly easy to understand at a conceptual level. Most people I have met in the industry that are good at marketing are able to understand customers and find insights within data, but most of those things are learned.

I would recommend (in order of affordability):
Hey Whipple Squeeze This
Ogilvy on Advertising
Advertising Concept and Copy

Each is more complex than the last so Whipple would be a cheap and easy start to understand marketing concepts. Hope this helps.

I have a few questions for you. Do you want to be a creative or an account exec? Are you based in the UK or US? Remember all my advice is based on being in the UK.

You only need to make a portfolio if you want to be a creative, account people don't need to do this. Creatives work in pairs, so you'll need to get a partner too, either an art director or copywriter. Although these days it's common for both creatives to do a bit of each job.

But in answer to you question, yes, you do random stuff. Think of a brand and write some ads for them. Do about 6 to 8 campaigns, put them in a portfolio and then ask some creatives in agencies to have a look and crit your work.

Money, it's not great, especially if you've gone to Oxbridge and all your mates are starting on 50k. Generally account execs and creatives will start on about £22k-£24k.

How long does it take to work your way? That depends largely on your performance. If you're a creative who makes an ad like Sony Balls then you can expect to be on 6 figures fairly quickly. However, most creatives have a fairly steady climb. In "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This", Luke Sullivan says that creatives get under-paid for the first half of their career and over-paid for the second half.

Promotions. Creatives don't really get promoted officially until they become creative directors, getting a pay rise is roughly the equivalent of getting a promotion. There's a more rigid structure for account people and they seem to get promoted fairly regularly, once every few years but they are performance based, if your clients like you the agency will like you.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

I found some tape recording of a consultation session he did with clients - pretty amazing.

Heres Some more:
My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising

https://www.youtube.com/user/kopywriting/videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/marketingshowtv/videos

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/

http://socialtriggers.com/

The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost your Sales.

The Copywriter's Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells

Writing That Works; How to Communicate Effectively In Business

This site has some good ads to swipe, with explanations for some of them:
http://swiped.co/

To start off, these books should help to get the basics down pat:

1. https://www.amazon.com/This-book-teach-write-better/dp/0989895300/
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sales-Letter-Attract-Customers/dp/1440511411
   
3. https://www.amazon.com/Adweek-Copywriting-Handbook-Advertising-Copywriters/dp/0470051248/
   
4. https://www.amazon.com/Write-Copy-Sells-Step-Step/dp/161448502X/
   5.https://www.amazon.com/Online-Copywriters-Handbook-Everything-Electronic/dp/0658020994
   
5. https://www.amazon.com/CA-HVERTISING-Ad-Agency-Psychology-Anything/dp/1601630328/
   
   If you want to go deeper, and become an expert copywriter follow what the late great Gary Halbert says here --> https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/newsletters/zfkj_hands_on_experience.htm
   
   All the best on the journey.

This is poor behavior from a salesperson, but I also think consumers have some responsibility to be a little informed about what they're buying. Of course the "power balance" is going to be a little skewed towards the well-trained, well-informed salesperson but I think the buyer needs to take a little responsibility for themselves before they fork-over hundreds of dollars.

Two books really informed my perspective on honest salesmanship: Getting to Yes and Yes!. Hoakey titles, maybe, but really good information on ways to effectively sell and market your product or idea without using dishonest tactics.

Well there's the sequel of course: Superfreakonomics. And everything by Malcom Gladwell kind of falls into the same genre: The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink... Then there's The Long Tail by Chris Anderson of Wired and Bad Science by The Guardian's Ben Goldacre....

A Short History of Nearly Everything is also absolutely brilliant 'popular science' but not as 'generation now' as the ones above.

That's just top of my head. All of these books are a few years old but still a great read. I'd say they're all typical Redditor reading if that makes sense.

I have so many thoughts about this that I don't have time to go into right now, but have you read this book? It's not specifically about goth but it's about how the idea of rebellion itself became a commodified fashion statement. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Sell-Counter-Culture-Consumer/dp/1841126551

For a lot of bored middle class kids, affecting punk's anti-authority, edgy grittiness is a form of escapism in itself, I think. A way to dissociate themselves from their comfortable upbringings that they're embarrassed about. And then they sneer at working class people for having "bourgeois values" if they want a bit of beauty or style or romance (yes, maybe of a kitschy sort) in their lives.

Hey you should start by researching student books these are the people you are up against. Look at the products they pick. Try to do print for the most part. It's the easiest way to get your idea across quickly which will be good when a CD has about 3 mins to look at your book. Here are a ton of student books:
http://brandcenter.vcu.edu/people/alumni/
also look on creative circus's alumni page as well.

In terms of "prompts" that's kind of on you when creating a portfolio. Find a product that needs fresh messaging try to beat the work they are currently doing.

Also I can't stress how important reading "Hey Whipple" will be for you. You'll find what you are looking for in there. http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450214586&sr=8-1&keywords=hey+whipple+squeeze+this

Doesn't really matter that you're not a student. Book is all that matters to agencies, aside from cultural fit. You really need to study some award books and archives and learn what makes copy good, then make a book of spec (fake) ads. Pick 5 brands in various categories and go. I highly recommend this book to help you get started concepting.

3 great books to read, in descending order of importance:

The Mousedriver Chronicles (Couple of kids out of Wharton starting a company around a mouse shaped like a golf driver)

The Art of the Start (Guy Kawasaki- Entrepreneur's instruction manual.)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell- good explanation of how to select the few important things to do to make your snowball into an avalanche.)

Hit me up via pm if you have any further questions. You're where I was about 2 years ago.

Never do your own cover. They aren't that expensive ($150 is common). The reviews on your Amazon page are encouraging, and those 4 and 5 star blurbs like "This book really sucked me in and became a real page turner" mean a great deal more than what your friends say/think. You won't get anyone you know to actually read and review the thing because they don't share your interests enough to be your ideal reader. Don't worry about it. Statistically, your ideal readership is a very exclusive club scattered all around the world.

In the long run, if you are looking to make a career out of this, it's almost time to invest in a real editor. Read this book and do what it says. The generally accepted magic number is 3 books, but you can wait until 4 or 5 if you're patient and secure in your day job.

Accounts, not accounting, mate.

Very broadly speaking, an agency is divided into two parts: Accounts and Creative. Accounts is the liaison between the agency and the client. They define broad objectives, general strategy and make sure the trains run on time. Creative makes the actual ads.

You don't need experience to make a book. You just need good ideas and maybe a friend who's handy in graphic design. That said, very few creatives find jobs without going to portfolio school first. Read Hey Whipple, Squeeze This and see where it takes you.

Are you giving away a story free to subscribers? Where in your front matter / back matter do you put your CTA (Call to Action) to entice them to sign-up? Do you use images or just text? For every 100 books you sell (or give away free), how many subscribers are you getting on average? It's work, but it's soooo worth it.

ETA: Throwing some power words into your CTA/headline might help too. The Lust column on that page, for instance, has some juicy words to use for your CTA/headline. Have I mentioned the importance of your CTA/headline enough yet? ;)

ETA TOO: If you want some homework, read Influence by Cialdini and/or Tested Advertising Methods for some basics on marketing. For even more author-specific newsletter tips, check out Mark Dawson and/or Nick Stephenson.

Mi-a placut mult Confessions, dar suna foarte bine Introvert Power, o sa citesc musai, am vazut ca a ajutat Confessions, dar omul cam tinde sa uite daca nu face un obicei din ce invata :)

Din pacate, ai dreptate ca e formatul limitat, trebuie cautat bine, cele care sunt disponibile in format kindle se vad si ok si n-au neaparata nevoie de culoare: Logo Design Love a fost excelent, o baza buna a fost White space is not your enemy, cu ceva greutate am citit pdf-ul The fundamentals of graphic design si acum citesc The creative process illustrated - desi, ce-i drept, e clar mai mult despre creativitate, dar la fel mi-a facut placere sa citesc Hey, Whipple, squeeze this.

Altceva de design cu imagini si explicatii, mai comprehensiv, clar nu merge pe kindle. Si daca ai recomandari pentru mine legate de design, pentru kindle or not, nici nu stii cat mi-ar placea sa ascult!

Pretty good campaigns can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587

Also you can follow ‘Brilliant ads’ page on Linkedin 😊

https://www.linkedin.com/company/brilliantads/

Here are Amazon links for the ones interested as well:

Book Yourself Solid Illustrated by Michael Port

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

You Can’t Teach A Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar by David Sandler

How To Get Rich Felix Dennis

Life’s A Pitch by Philip Delves Broughton

Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall

Unstoppable Referrals by Steve Gordon

22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Ries and Trout

If you're already motivated, then studying books about specific skills will help you more than the general entrepreneurship books.

For example, starting an online business, I found books on copywriting, seo, content marketing, conversion rate optimization to be very helpful. (The book Cashvertising is one that comes to mind.)

Not sure exactly what happened to get ello the sort of viral spread they had... but I think this book gives a great framework for understanding viral trends in general if you're interested... Contagious - one of the better books I've read on the subject. Full disclosure... I'm a marketer by trade so I study this stuff as habit.

10 years and you still write like someone who's trying to impress his English teacher. Your writing would sound old-fashioned even for a cover letter. This is not how you move inventory in 2018.

May I interest you in the Plain English initiative? Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This would also be a good read for you

If you want to validate this idea, try Google AdWords. If you don't know how to use it well I would highly recommend this book.

Any traffic you're not converting now is kind of meaningless. If you posted the page out on your Facebook for example you might get a few people checking it out but they are not your customers. Maybe they were there to check out the upside down santa girl not your product.

Google AdWords let's you almost instantly turn on / off a stream of qualified leads. People searching for "how to start a pub crawl business" or similar. Get this traffic coming in, see how much you're paying for a conversion (email signups). 30 conversions from AdWords is statistically significant enough to draw conclusions. Then crunch the numbers and see if they make sense. Hopefully this will only cost you about $100-$200, and if it works you have the emails of interested people already.

His statement is true if you consider that it's also true of men as well. People have very, very similar behavioural patterns, including, ironically, the notion that they're all unique snowflakes. Not quite 100% overlap, but enough that you can make predictions. It's the basis of books like 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be More Persuasive.

You can break down /u/n0c0ntr0l's statement like this: All humans are very similar because of their genetics, but women are just slightly moreso.

I just finished reading Contagious: Why Things Catch On and really enjoyed it. I started How to Read Literature Like a Professor the other day and am enjoying it so far.

Hey there, thanks for subscribing!

Since you're coming in in the middle of the month, I wanted to let you know that we selected Tipping Point:... by Malcolm Gladwell as the January read.

Here is a non-affiliate link to the book's amazon page if you're interested in joining for January.

Thanks again!

Cashvertising is a really good read - not per se to do with entrepreneurship but definitely useful with your communications (considering that most start-ups don't have the dosh to get an ad agency to do the work for them).

I realize you didn't go to advertising school and probably didn't put together a portfolio, nor are you at a big name agency, so I figured I'll throw in a few reading suggestions to fire up your brain and help you build upon your base of knowledge so you can speak with greater authority on the subject.

Hey Whipple (http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369356964&sr=8-1&keywords=hey+whipple)

Advertising: Concept and Copy (http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Concept-Third-George-Felton/dp/0393733866/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369357028&sr=1-3&keywords=the+advertising+concept+book)

Advertising Concept Book (http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Concept-Book-Second-Barry/dp/0500290318/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369357028&sr=1-1&keywords=the+advertising+concept+book)

The Copy Book - This book is one of my favourites because it just deals with writing and it's big and glossy and wordy. (http://www.amazon.com/D-AD-The-Copy-Book/dp/3836528320/ref=pd_sim_b_11)

Also just look through annuals and always keep good writing and good ideas at the front of your mind. The

yes, they do this in whole foods to make it smell like fresh bread and lots and lots of other places (why chain stores always smell the same).

If interested, you should read Buyology by Martin Lindstrom if you are interested in more of the subject of how marketers mess with your perceptions.

Check out [this book] (https://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1119164001) - great, definitely recommend.

Also if your looking for a great book on the monkey-sphere and other cool psychological things, I highly recommend checking out The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Yes, protests ARE a great start! But there needs to be steps beyond that also that are in place. A plan to get to what you need.

Good book: http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624

Well, then you may want to check this out:

http://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Why-Things-Catch-On/dp/1451686579

An excellent book about viral marketing, I applied it's principles to my game and plan on doing so to every other game I make. (Sure hope that this link doesn't get removed too..)

Way I see it, you have three options:

1. Take the books down and revise them, then re-publish them yourself. Chris Fox, who's a very successful self-published author, wrote a nonfiction book titled Relaunch Your Novel: Breathe Life Into Your Backlist. It's a very good resource for how to go about relaunching previously published books, and he talks about this method. I know a few self-published authors who have done just that and they ended up more successful the second time around.
   
   
2. Take the books down and revise them, then try shopping them around to agents or small presses that accept submissions. This will be an uphill climb, though. Usually, traditional publishing is only interested in buying the rights to self-published books if they were already successful as self-published. It's not impossible for them to be interested, but I would say it's highly improbable.
   
   
3. Push on ahead. You could write for a century and you'll still look back on your most-recent work and find mistakes that drive you nuts. If you're embarrassed by those early novels, then take them down. But don't revise them. Understand the mistakes you made and keep those lessons in mind as you begin working on something new.
   
   My personal preference is the third option, but the first is also a good one. I don't think you'll have much luck with the second.

A couple I've enjoyed lately:

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus

The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers -

They're both enjoyable reads, not especially boring or academic.

I also second /u/Createx's Freakonomics recommendation. That book was great. Along the same cause and effect theme is The Tipping Point.

This https://www.amazon.com/dp/039472903X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_-LmozbRFSJV3K

And this https://www.amazon.com/dp/006124189X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_dMmozbWME8S98

And for fun read, get Matt Beaumont's "e" and "e squared": https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_9?k=matt+beaumont&sprefix=matt+beau

Also, get this for general knowledge of some of the great work done in particular medium: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118101332/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_0Qmozb5TPRJCS

> Right, but they offered it.

This is you saying they offered the cash.

When I stated that they never offered the cash up front:

> Of course not.

So which is it? Is it they offered the cash up front, or the "of course not"?

The key here is CASH UP FRONT. Not CASH AFTER THE SACRED LOTTERY. You want to motivate people? CASH.UP.FRONT.

> The most common reason for crew to go over their permitted hours is weather delays. Does United control the weather?

DOES THE CUSTOMER?

You don't get it. You don't even comprehend the difference between "offering the cash up front over the PA so everyone knows about it" and "involuntary bumping". It doesn't require looking into the future or controlling the weather or whatever.

You got good at selling tickets? Great. You're so good at selling tickets that you oversell them? Super. Now get good at SELLING THE BUMP.

All the accounts I read were that the airline supervisor sounded annoyed at the passengers for not volunteering. Great fucking salesmanship to sound annoyed that people won't take you up on your shitty offer. The way they handled it probably elicited a "fuck you" right off the bat from every customer in there.

What you do is get a smooth motherfucker to get up on the PA to go, "Yo yo yo, our fuckup is your gain, I got $800 cash money for the next guy that steps up and takes the next flight. And you'll be laying the cut straight in first class with this big ass wad o' cash in yo pocket. You know what $800 cash looks like? This is what it looks like. (Holds up a giant wad of cash.) You won't even be able to sit right with this thing in yo pocket, but that's OK, because you'll be sittin' on that uncomfortable bulge in first class, and because we all know that $800 cash money feels real good, don't it? Yeah, this guy here knows what I'm sayin'. Man, if I were on this flight I'd take it. I have taken it before, and it is AWESOME. We'll put you up for the night and set you up for the next flight first class like a boss. And listen, between you and me, they might need a volunteer on that next flight too so if you want, you might be able to double this big ass wad of cash. (Holds up two wads of cash.) So step on up and get dis money before the guy with the shady look in his eyes next to you takes it." "Whoah whoah whoah fellas I can only do dis for 4 people, so 9 of you that just stormed the podium gonna have to go back."

You do that, you might still need to call airport security -- because the passengers are beating each other up trying to GIT DAT MONEY. It will look like Walmart on Black Friday. How is it Walmart is better at motivating customers to trample each other over a $50 VCR and the airlines can't peaceably move someone with up to $1300 cash? IT'S BECAUSE THEY SUCK AT THEIR JOBS.

There are probably multiple better ways to do this that break your little "Passenger's Dilemma" game that you're so deathly afraid of. You have to drop the "Sanctity of Lottery" madness though. That just has to go. It's counterproductive.

I just remembered something ironic. The last book I brought with me on a flight was this:

https://www.amazon.com/Yes-Scientifically-Proven-Ways-Persuasive/dp/1416576142

There is an entire science behind being persuasive. You ever read that book?

Maybe the airlines only understand the fist and boot because their mental toolkits are so limited. That's what happens most of the time when people feel like they have to resort to force. They're just frustrated because they're mentally limited.

> Because they have an airline to run. They're going to have to bump people in the future to solve staffing emergencies, and it's reasonable for them to attempt to preserve the efficacy of the tools they have to manage that situation. And the 80-220 people on the other flight also had the right to make their flight, too. Or did you think they should all miss their flight just because a doctor thought he was more important than the other 80 people on his flight? How is that fair?

Wow, not only is that hypocritical, that's not even any argument that I actually made.

I'm not saying that other people should miss their flights or whatever.

I'm saying UA should pay up. In the 0.0043% of instances where involuntary bumping occurs (UA 2016), they can pay the fuck up, cash money, up front, and avoid all of this bullshit. They have the money.

There were, what, 4 high school students on that flight. You think they wouldn't have snapped and been like, "Man, that's enough for a new iPhone 7. I'll miss a day of school, fuck it. Best.field.trip.evar."?

But no, UA insisted on this voucher bullshit, and then went from that to sacred lottery in zero flat. Because they don't want to fucking part with the cash, and the fist and boot are all they understand.

That's the fucking point.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is pretty much required reading. As is Ogilvy on Advertising, in my opinion. Sort of old school versus new school insight. Both are advertising legends, and Luke Sullivan is/was a copywriter, so I found his stuff to be particularly helpful. There's a ton of stuff out there to read, but these two are a good place to start.

Read Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This front to back.

Then, from there, it depends what you're going to be doing. I'm a copywriter so I read a lot of books tailored to that.

• Advertising Concept Book
  
• Creative Advertising
  
• Contagious
  
• And spent a lot of time on www.moderncopywriter.com looking at books to base mine off of.
  
• I've heard the Ogilvy books are good. I should read them.
  
  If you're not going in the creative side, there are still plenty of other books - and I think Whipple applies to all.
  
  

I started with books. Lots and lots of books. Here are a few of my favorites (not affiliate links)

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

How to Write a Good Advertisement

The Copywriters Handbook

CA$HVERTISING

Cashvertising

Great book on marketing, the psychology behind it, and how to put it all together. Very information-rich, not much fluff. Definitely a book to always have around.

Scientific Advertising

Often credited as the book that started the scientific, data-driven approach to advertising and marketing.

Tested Advertising Methods

Another classic that all marketers/advertising professionals should read.

Think of it this way. If the offer is a car for sale on the car lot, your landing page is the salesman. There's a million ways they can add value, but more than that, they are intended to drive the intended action. Just like the car salesman, the affiliates landing page, turns that passively interested person into a buyer.

edit: read this. http://www.amazon.com/CA-HVERTISING-Ad-Agency-Psychology-Anything/dp/1601630328

Here's a few I recommend:

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing/dp/1861976100

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strategy-Tactics-Pricing-Thomas-Nagle/dp/0136106811

[This one isn't technically a marketing book I guess, but it's a very (very!) good way to think about packaging and pricing. And I think marketing is one large component of that process and think it is a must-read.]

Purple Cow: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable/dp/014101640X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

[This one is a lighter read but still a goodie]

Trends typically start small/local and build, then make the leap to a new cluster, and it snowballs... something like a fidget spinner might have been discovered by some kid a year ago and started a craze at his school. Then some kid introduces his cabin of kids at camp to them and it spreads to some other schools in the fall. Then those kids show them to their cousins at Christmas, and so on... growth take off exponentially, so it accelerates as it spreads -- making it seem like overnight.

Malcom Gladwell's book The Tipping Point does a good job of explaining the phenomenon...

This is a good starting point:

Perry Marshalls: Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords

Hal Varian: Quality Score & the Ad Auction

Take everything you read/learn online with a grain of salt. PPC is not black and white, not every practice works in every industry/budget/account. Try to learn the logic behind making intelligent decisions in PPC.

read:
The Idea Writers
http://www.amazon.com/Idea-Writers-Copywriting-Marketing-Advertising/dp/0230613888
Winning The Story Wars
http://winningthestorywars.com/

both are recent.
Ogilvy is a classic for sure. Ogilvy is great on the craft of writing

Yes, it's hard, but the most valuable thing I've ever learned. I took this course: http://kopywritingkourse.com/

My tips: take that course and read this: http://www.amazon.com/The-Adweek-Copywriting-Handbook-Advertising/dp/0470051248

I am halfway through Ca$hvertising and loving it. Entertaining and not super long read; dense with ideas.

Some that guide my everyday work:

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive!

Competition Demystified!

Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger!

I am not sure about any Canadian Forces specific books. But some standard military officer books that in my mind are good to read about leadership and wisdom would be:

• The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester
  
• Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
  
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
  
• [The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell]
  (http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342986110&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Tipping+Point+by+Malcolm+Gladwell)

Get this book. Read the chapter on creative briefs.

Then, get this book. Read the whole thing. Twice.

Then get this book. Read the chapter "How to Get an Idea." Then read the chapter "How to Craft Copy."

Pick 5 brands. Not small unknown brands, but brands that have agencies do their ads. Make 3 ads for those brands.

You'll have to write 100 headlines to get 2 or 3 good ones. Once you get more experience, you'll be able to squeeze out the gold with less effort.

I think that with the integration of increasing perceived value techniques, Jeff Walker style Launch marketing, some persuasion supplementation, using stories in marketing, Neuromarketing, Web Copy techniques, and many others, all put together in combination - anything's possible. How possible something is I think depends on your perception, and how and if you are familiar with persuasion and how businesses persuade and make something sound 'fair'.

Second, I don't actually mind getting pirated. If those people want it and can't afford it, they should have it. I don't want to stop them. I don't view it as a loss.

I'd rather not go the route of donations... it's honestly too much work.

2nd thought. It's purely from a persuasion/copywriting perspective. I read this book a few years ago and one of the steps before writing is to imagine what opposition the reader could have before buying your product (or accepting your conclusion) and address it in the main text in descending order from most to least important.

For you I'd guess it's #1 establishing you are not a troll and not racist #2 establishing the facts that you proclaim are actually true

The AdWeek Copywriting Handbook is widely regarded as one of the best resources on writing ad copy.

Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point is all about the phenomenon of how certain things become popular seemingly overnight. It's not a new phenomenon, nor is it limited to YA books, or books at all.

I believe they got this information from The Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell. It's a great read. http://www.amazon.com/The-Tipping-Point-Little-Difference/dp/0316346624

Great book. link

> First, your standarts are way to high.

Your standards are way too low.

> getting an extra fan would have more impact than getting a better PSU.

I agree in the sense that it would have more negative impact. An extra fan = more power consumption and more noise. If you don't care about noise, that's fine.

> Effect on the grid ? For a few % just for the PC ? Have you looked how much power a fridge or an oven needs ? Lightbulbs ? The effect on the grid is negilible.

I'm going to suggest you read this book.

Cashvertising - Looks cheasy as hell, but it's by far the best book I've read on the subject. Lots on what makes someone buy, how to present it, etc.

You aren't buying movies to watch them. You are buying them for the purpose a marketer calls "an identity good."

> An identity good is something people buy to express their tie to a group or category they belong to or would like to belong to. People buy The New Hacker's Dictionary because they are, or want to be, the kind of person they think should own a copy of it.

You have to give up identity goods altogether. It's a ruinous practice. Ruinous for the wallet indeed, but above all it's ruinous for the soul. There exist means of expressing your identity that don't require dependence on large corporations' marketing departments. Find them.

Some more reading:

• The Origins of Prestige Goods as Honest Signals of Skill
  and Knowledge
  
  
• Consuming Symbolic Goods: Identity and Commitment, Values and Economics
  
  
• The Rebel Sell

Recommended Reading:

• Nudge (by Richard Thaler)
  
• Predictably Irrational (by Dan Ariely, he's great)
  
• Drunk Tank Pink (by Adam Alter)
  
• The Design of Everyday Things (by Don Norman, the godfather of cognitive psych)
  
• Brain Rules (by John Medina)
  
• The Tipping Point and What the Dog Saw (by Malcolm Gladwell)
  
• edit: Thinking Fast and Slow (by Daniel Kahneman)
  
• edit: The Emotional Life of Your Brain (by Richard Davidson & Sharon Begley)
  
  (Those are just the ones I have sitting on my bookshelf... I have a dozen more on my Kindle that I can add to the list if you're interested.)
  
  ---------
  
  Authors & Speakers (lots of TED Talks):
  
  
• Dan Ariely
  
• Malcolm Gladwell
  
• Rory Sutherland
  
• Daniel Pink
  
• Simon Sinek
  
• Robert Sapolsky (evolutionary biology professor at Stanford and hidden gem)
  
  ---------
  
  Let's start a book club! :)

It doesn't work. If anything it adds to the pleasure. (https://www.amazon.com/Buyology-Truth-Lies-About-Why/dp/0385523890)

Also this:

http://www.amazon.com/Copywriters-Handbook-Third-Step-Step/dp/0805078045

And this (not only about copywriting, but definitely game-changing thought):

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

That will come with time! I suggest reading some books that will help you on self-improvement:


The Tipping Point and The Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell


Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman


Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Brainfluence by Roger Dooley gives you some practical insights into what is a very interesting and exciting aspect of marketing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1118113365?pc_redir=1407908411&robot_redir=1

All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1591845335?pc_redir=1408028870&robot_redir=1

Also, subscribe to Hubspot's newsletter for almost everything you need to know about digital marketing.

Read "The Tipping Point"
The salient point in there is that once you reach a certain IQ (around 130) it doesn't matter anymore. You've got all the faculties to do whatever, and it's no longer a measure of ability.

Learn to write copy. Print money. But be ethical. Book

I would get two books in particular. I actually just read them and I quite like them:

this first and then this one

Truth Lies and Advertising by Jon Steel

Madison Valley by Leif Abraham

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Otherwise you should set up an RSS feed with an app like Newsify that includes sites like Adweek, Ad Age, copyranter, KISSmetrics, etc. The industry is constantly evolving and it's worth it to keep up on what's going on now.

You should try reading 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive, by Noah Goldstein, a man who's studied persuasive psychology for most of his adult life, and who explores the subject in great detail in his books. The tl;dr for purposes of this point is that, no, "Don't eat nuts" is not a good way to convey a persuasive instruction. It can even serve to be counter-productive, as it primes the mind for thoughts about nuts, which can actually stimulate a desire to eat them that wasn't previously there. A better way to convey the message really would've been to explain why the instruction was being given. It'd turn a "Whut, why? Mmm, I've got nuts in my bag, what harm could it do?" into "Oh, fair enough". It would ideally be followed up by periodic messages thanking everybody (specifically this - social persuasion is a powerful tool) for not eating nuts, and framing it as a favour to the crew and the girl.

Conventional thinking might tell you that "Don't do this" sets a rule that people will obey, but, well, that's just not how people work. People ignore rules all the time, when they feel like those rules are meaningless or don't apply to them.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Malcolm Gladwell

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business - Charles Duhigg

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman

------------ On my list -----------------

Think Like a Freak - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

I hate to quote statistics without citing the source, but the source was a lecture in psychology and I don't have notes about the citation. About 4% of men and 2% of women (4% in women around the age of 40 due to a drug commonly taken by pregnant women at the time) are homosexual. Individuals can form close acquaintances with about 150 people (The Tipping Point), so there are good odds that about six people you personally know and regularly interact with are gay.

The Tipping Point has a section explaining this process. Pretty good read.

I can't believe I'm the first to suggest this:

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising

Also, fuck you.

These are the books I've read recently and liked a lot:

• CA$HVERTISING: How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make BIG MONEY Selling Anything to Anyone
  
• Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success)
  
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
  
• The Education of Millionaires: It's Not What You Think and It's Not Too Late
  
  These are not affiliate links.

Chris Fox has a book on relaunching novels that might be of help to you https://www.amazon.com/Relaunch-Your-Novel-Breathe-Backlist-ebook/dp/B071HVZD1G

I just finished Buy-ology: Truth and lies about why we buy by Martin Lindstrom over the weekend. Read it for a marketing course and really enjoyed it.

Not sure what I'll read next. I've got a few books piled up somewhere in my house though.

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples is a quick read that goes into the psychology behind why people buy. It really helped me get a clear idea on how to structure my copy when I first got started.

Check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Advertising-Methods-Prentice-Business-Classics/dp/0130957011.

Podcasts:

• Online Marketing Made Easy
  
• Growth Marketing Toolbox
  
• Social Media Marketing
  
• Build Your Tribe
  
• Everyone Hates Marketers
  
• Pat Flynn Smart Passive Income
  
• Masters of Scale
  
• How I Built This
  
• Tim Ferriss
  
• Startup School with Seth Godin or Akimbo
  
• GaryVee Audio Experience
  
  Books:
  
  
• Anything by Seth Godin
  
• 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
  
• Blue Ocean Strategy
  
• Small Giants
  
• Crush It
  
• The Tipping Point
  

It's funny how pedophilia only became a problem when people started talking about it...pretty sure Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book about that phenomenon.

I would also recommend the Advertising Concept Book

I'm a copywriter. And nobody can explain what I do better than Luke Sullivan. Every copywriter has at least two editions of his book on his desk. Start here.

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Advertising/dp/0470190736

EDIT: I can't spell. that's probably not a good sign.

/u/Arkelias (Chris Fox) actually has a book on this very subject called Relaunch Your Novel. Check it out. I decided that relaunching my old series ultimately wasn't for me since the return still wouldn't be worth the effort, but Chris goes through the process in some detail. Worth a read.

Yeah that's the one. At least I think so, they don't mention the title.

https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587 for anyone else reading this.

Game Theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_dilemma

Also, the people making decisions are very rarely highly motivated 20 year old professionals who want to change the world. Unfortunately.

Reading that I found enlightening:
http://www.amazon.com/Vested-Outsourcing-Five-Rules-Transform/dp/0230623174/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343969056&sr=8-1&keywords=vested+outsourcing

http://www.amazon.com/The-Tipping-Point-Little-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343969137&sr=8-1&keywords=tipping+point

http://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Economist-Explores-Hidden-Everything/dp/0060731338/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343969152&sr=1-1&keywords=freakonomics

Copywriter's Handbook

Ogilvy on Advertising

My Life in Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins


Pick Me: Breaking into Advertising and Staying there - By Nancy Vonk Invaluable to me when I was in school. Read it more than my textbooks

Zag: The Number one strategy for high performance brands

Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell

Because making loose correlations between anecdotal observations is a lot easier than thinking about socioeconomic issues. Because humans are hardwired to be tribal, and most of our self selected tribes are monochromatic. Sapiens, Outliers, and The Tipping Point touch on these flaws in our wetware.

Itse kuuntelen kirjoja aina kun kävelen tai matkustan jonnekkin. Saa senkin ajan hyödynnettyä.

En tiä minkälaisia kirjoja tykkäät lukea, mutta itse tykkään markkinointi, yrittäjyys aiheista.

Rich dad poor dad on ihan ykkössuositus yrittäjyydestä ja "contagious", sekä "influence. Psychology of persuation" markkinoinnista.

https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1543626610

https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28815.Influence

https://buffer.com/library/social-proof

You might want to read a few Marketing books if you're going to start a business. (https://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp/0887306667, https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=A83W2B73QMKMTAK2D36K)

By the way if you want a "copywriting 101" book get this shit: http://www.amazon.com/CA-HVERTISING-Ad-Agency-Psychology-Anything/dp/1601630328

for anyone who wants to know where you got that idea

leí sobre el caso famoso y el efecto espectador en The Tipping Point

un buen libro.

This might be a much smaller scale, but in Gladwell's Tipping Point he explores people he calls "mavens" and "connectors". These are relatively small numbers of people who disproportionately influence the masses even without being assigned powers. Your question reminds me of that book.

Check out The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. I had the same question, and it answered it.

The Long Tail or The Tipping Point

http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624

would say you find information regarding that topic in Martin Linstroms book Buyology
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385523890

Not got any Sullivan, but Andy Maslen's a mainstay of my reference library:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Copywriters-Handbook-Step-step-Writing/dp/0805078045

The guru of direct response copywriting https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0805078045/ref=tmm_pap_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=&sr=

Hey whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan.

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332

Welp I guess we're downvoted for mentioning a book:
https://www.amazon.ca/Hey-Whipple-Squeeze-This-Creating/dp/1118101332

Luke Sullivan.
"Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!"

If you haven't read this yet, start there.

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

First:
http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Google-AdWords-Million/dp/1599184419

Second: http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Google-AdWords-Brad-Geddes/dp/111881956X/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51qNA-w7TXL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR127%2C160_&refRID=067Y1BH3800X4A8QJ62N

Third: Take Over The World.

Not a course but this book by Perry Marshall helped me out a lot when I wanted to learn more: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Google-AdWords-Million/dp/1599184419

Getting all blubbery about it isn't going to stop them. These vegans are out there fighting a battle with actual conviction. Society and policy isn't shaped by what's objectively "right" or "wrong", it's shaped by who fights the hardest and without fail. If we cave to their demands, they win. If we close down our shops and farms because they harassed us or stole from us or beat us up, they win. Every foot you yield is a foot they gain, and they won't give it back easily.

You can sit around crying on your safe space anti-vegan reddit forums about how people are mean and bad or whatever, but the simple reality is that if vegans continue to do this kind of thing unchecked, complacent society will eventually cave to their demands. It's all outlined in The Tipping Point.

Are you thinking about The Tipping Point or Blink by Malcolm Gladwell? I don't know if he is entering the Obama Administration in any way, but I would not be incredibly surprised, and the books are similar enough in style and scope to be compared against Freakonomics.

Books!:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Tipping-Point-Little-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1370576210&sr=8-4&keywords=malcolm+gladwell

http://www.amazon.com/Blink-The-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1370576210&sr=8-6&keywords=malcolm+gladwell

A mental mind fuck can be nice

I just bought Hey Whipple Squeeze This as a parting gift for our intern, and The War of Art for myself.

A few recommendations:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601630328/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Ca$hvertising)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887306667/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (the 22 immutable laws of marketing)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591845335/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (Seth Godin)

There's too many to name. There's not really a lot that pack so much punch that they're more important than getting your hands dirty and doing.

Read the book Contagious https://www.amazon.com/Contagious-Things-Catch-Jonah-Berger/dp/1451686587

Ogilvy on Advertising

Truth, Lies, and Advertising

Hey, Whipple

Bill Bernbach's Book

The Book of Gossage

like how we shut up and let the Sackler family create the opioid epidemic, killing tens of thousands of people a year for the last few decades.

let's not listen to those doctors that tried to warn us that they were very addictive and deadly, because most doctors and scientists didn't agree yet. let's just wait and do nothing, because that works.

sike

it's called a grassroots movement. the minority has to keep voicing or nothing will change, the powers in control will keep thinking nothing is wrong and not change anything

i suggest reading or looking into Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point to understand why it doesn't work the way you think it should.

​

I can go on and on with more cases of drugs that ended up recalled, many tens of years after they were in the market before enough damage happened the FDA was forced to act, but here's a link

https://web.archive.org/web/20190604093229/https://prescriptiondrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=005528

Actually...this reminds me the point of the book "Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. The whole book describes situations where a small change started a snowball effect and created a huge change. In fact many of the stories are about political situations with a conquering power and resistance where a small group of people where able to make such a difference where they eventually beat the big powerful controlling government.

One of the stories was about how the IRA was able to fight back against the British for so long even though the British army was so powerful. Another was in France when it was controlled I think by the Nazi's (don't remember exactly but sounds right). How a small group of locals where able to oppose the controlling power.

This is the description from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624

> The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

On the flip side the book explains why so many dictatorships are so concerned about anti-government speech and want to control all the media.

Anyway I guess the point is...you just have to get enough of a momentum behind an idea so that it starts spreading and can topple entire regimes.

So I think that part is actually very realistic. Hitler understands that all of his subjects have to think that they are absolutely controlled and that there is no alternate way except death.

These films show an alternate way.

Is anyone familliar with Martin Lindström? He's in the field of branding and marketing and in his books he analyzes what makes people buy specific products and prefer specific brands.

In one of his books, Buyology (http://www.amazon.com/Buyology-Truth-Lies-About-Why/dp/0385523890/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346762504&sr=8-1&keywords=buyology) he makes the point that horrific images on cigarette packs seems to actually have the opposite effect. I'd be really interested to find out what effect a cigarette package displaying ONLY horrific images would have on consumer consumption.